Innovative Real Time Information

Terms of Use

TGTFS Schedule Information

Please note that your regions transport agency is responsible for the provision of schedule information. This information is replicated within the TrackABus real time system under the following Terms of Use.

The information contained within the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) feeds have been compiled in good faith from sources that are believed to be reliable. TrackABus regularly updates the GTFS feed to access the most recent information.

However, users of the TrackABus service are advised that TrackABus and our client agencies do not accept any responsibility or liability in contract, tort or otherwise for any direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damage, loss, injury or expense that arises from any errors in the information, whether due to the agency or a third party, or that arises from the provision, use, or misuse, of the information available from this site.

TrackABus Service Outline

Hardware Installation

The TrackABus service can either operate with data collected from TrackABus Locator Units or from a suitable GPS data feed from a third party source.

TrackABus Locator Units have been designed to be as simple to install and maintain as possible. To date TrackABus staff have installed the initial units, but operators have subsequently replaced and reinstalled units successfully, co-ordinating this activity with us. The locator units do not require an external aerial, only a 12-24V power supply available at least when the bus master key is on .

TrackABus is fully insured with regard to the supply and installation of our locator. Care has been taken with regard to the design of the units to ensure that high quality connectors and components have been used. We also have undertaken destructive testing and use flame resistant materials for the assembly.

TrackABus cannot be responsible for occurrences of vandalism or theft of any installed hardware.

Service Coverage

In order to provide accurate information to the travelling public and for management purposes, any bus that will run a schedule service should have a locator unit installed or have an installed third party GPS unit which provides an appropriate data feed.

If our locator units are installed, TrackABus will liaise directly with the bus operator to perform regular maintenance and address any issues that may arise.

If a third party GPS feed is used a suitable API integration will be developed and supported by TrackABus. We currently have developed integrations for ERoad, iBright and other GPS systems. It is essential to note however that the refresh rate of a third party GPS feed may be lower than the 10-15 second rate of the TrackABus Locator Units. A low refresh rate, particularly if over 20-30 seconds, will negatively impact the service experienced by the travelling public.

Support

The TrackABus Locator Units are remotely administered and have been designed to cope with connection problems and other operating issues. However, as with any hardware installed on a bus, failures may occur and we are committed to correcting any issues. The support process in case of failure is generally as follows:

We (TrackABus) will work through our recovery process to attempt to remotely correct the problem.

If the problem persists, you (the bus provider) will work through the TrackABus installation checklist to ensure the Locator Unit is still being powered and correctly connected.

If the problem persists, we (TrackABus) will courier a replacement Locator Unit to you for installation. (In turn, you will mail the problematic unit back to us.)

You install the unit into the bus.

If the problem still persists, TrackABus would arrange for one of our staff or a qualified auto-electrician to correct the fault – time and materials costs will generally apply if the fault does not lie with our units.

The stated level of support is included in the recurring charges for the locator and screen units.

Service Availability

TrackABus has invested in a full disaster recovery solution and is continually improving our service infrastructure. All system upgrades are conducted outside operating hours for live services, except for any emergency work which is considered on a case by case basis.

For any period of time in which the TrackABus service is not operating, we will credit you 4 times the amount of time for which the service is unavailable. For instance, if our telecommunications provider is down in your city for 3 hours in the afternoon and hence our buses cannot provide tracking information we will credit you 12 hours of service time.

System Performance

TrackABus strives to provide as accurate a real time service as possible and is continually aiming to improve the performance of the overall solution. Due to the ever changing operational conditions involved in providing a public bus service, the overall system accuracy will vary over time .

TrackABus is working towards delivering to a stated service accuracy level. At present our system audits indicate that performance and accuracy is consistently around 95% and we aim to improve on this figure with the introduction of better in route checks.

TrackABus cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies caused by changes to the service operation if not informed of such modifications beforehand. Service changes as detailed below should be communicated to TrackABus with at least four weeks notice to ensure the system performance is not affected.

Route (GTFS) Adjustments

The TrackABus system relies on an accurate GTFS bundle which needs to be processed and uploaded into the system. Any work required to modify the GTFS bundle or prepare it for release to the public will be charged at our standard development rate of $960/day on a time and materials basis.

At a minimum updates will also be needed at regular intervals to update the bundle dates for holidays and service alterations over the holiday period. A minimum two day charge is made for updating the real time service each year.

Given suitable warning TrackABus will make every effort to ensure GTFS changes are made at a required date, such as on the introduction of a new route etc. Without at least 2-4 weeks notice (depending on the complexity of the change) TrackABus cannot guarantee changes will be made on a particular date.

System Enhancements

TrackABus envisages constantly enhancing and improving our real time service over time. We encourage feedback from our clients in order to improve the service.

If a specific enhancement is required or a fault in any of the real time or administrative interfaces is discovered, these should be reported or communicated directly to TrackABus. Once we are notified the following steps will be taken:

TrackABus will clarify the enhancement request or issue report and will circulate details of this to all parties.

In the case of a reported fault, TrackABus will review the issue and give an estimate of when the problem will be addressed.

In the case of an enhancement request, a work estimate will be prepared on request along with an estimate of when the work could be delivered.

Pricing

Our quoted prices are standardly valid for 2 months from the date of the quote. The service is typically invoiced on a monthly schedule.

We reserve the right to increase our prices approximately in line with increased costs and inflation. We do not foresee these costs increasing, but for example if our telecommunications charges are increased by our mobile data providers, or the component costs of our units increase, then we may incorporate such cost increases into our future prices. We will further advise of any price increases with at least 3 months of pre-warning.

We also reserve the right to increase the price of our base offering for new functionality which we cannot conveniently separate into an optional extra. We currently have such features under development and our standard base rate will likely later increase for other cities within New Zealand.

The standard TrackABus pricing structure is included at the end of this document.

Data Ownership and Retention

We guarantee to the best of our ability and within the law that all of your data will stay private. That is, we will not release, inform, or transmit your data to any third parties without your permission or unless legally compelled to do so by the New Zealand courts. We will provide access to the raw data as required.

Internally we use your data to train our Artificial Intelligence systems, which yields higher reliability for your service. We will also be developing reports for you based on this data as is requested by you.

Service Cancelation

You are able to cancel the TrackABus service at any time, however you need to communicate this to us in writing, 30 days prior to termination. This allows us time to communicate this to the traveling public, etc. Then you simply need to remove the TrackABus locator and screen units, minus the physical displays, and send them back to us.

Company Dissolution

In the extremely unlikely event that TrackABus NZ stop business operations, then TrackABus will provide suitable source code to allow the projects to be maintained or taken over by another party.

Limitation of Liability

In no event shall TrackABus be liable to you, or an external party, for special, consequential, punitive or exemplary damages under this agreement. In all cases TrackABus will be liable for at most the service fees received during the previous 3 months.